my favorite books

The 80/10/10 Diet
by Dr. Douglas N. Graham

The Good Life
by Neil and Helen Nearing

Healthy at 100
by John Robbins

Brain rules
by John Medina

Culture Jam
by Kalle Lasn

Ki in Daily Life
by Koichi Tohei

I am very well.

In case any of my friends are missing me and worried about me.

I know
I am not retarded.
I am very alive.
I am happy.
I am healthy.

I know me.
I know I am Yuko.
I think all of my friends know who Yuko is.

Thank you.

This is the end of the show.

So please get back your work OK?

If you knew what I wanted to say,

Jus tSHUT YOUR MOUTH UP AND JUST WATCH!
YOU HAVE A SECOMD>

BECAUE

YES>

YOU ARE ALWAYS RIGHT<


SO PLEASR KEEP READING MY BLOG/
BLOQ????????????????

dot. com

the address: invisible technique.

from A sound in the brain.

Shut up.

okk

now

you may

go to sleepppppppyiiiiiiiiiiallyyyyyyyy!

No!

KJust watch me if you may!



bye.

All the babies of the whole world!!!!!!!

I won !!!!!!

I have just finished that I was COLLECT 100%!!!!!!

YEAH.

YOU MAY NOW START FOLLOWING MY RULE>

MY NAME IS DO NOTO!!!!


MY NAME WAS NATTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!

YES!

YOUR NEXT MOVE IS

NATTOHHHH WO KUWU.

YES>

TO EAT THE NATTOH>

THE NATTO-1=

THe most delivious food in the whole new worlds.


Good day.

Do not say

Harashow in the RUssian language ok ?

The Yuko Yanagidaira knows the right answer yo!


Hurry!!!!!!!!!

You have the infinate number of times.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x


yw
るる。

さよ

おなら？


くさいぞ

きおつけて！


納豆は世界を救えます。

あなたにｍはまたこんどあいましょう。

いぇあｈ

ぇｔｓごてぇ

Let's go to the MOON the very next morning!

I loved you all!!!!!!!!!


anybody who can learn any languages!!!!!!!!



So you may start newing the last languages of all the universalities.

Yeah,

I have tolad you!


I am me.

My name was YUko Yanagidaira!!!!!!


I have given you all up babies and boies????????????????



No i have a hope.

I have a living dead body slash doc こっちだよ！

みててね。

わたしはあなたと
またあいましょ！

といいたいだけなのよ！

パパへ。

べいびーより。

:<3

Oh

I don't know how to use English.
I only know how to teach? no teach????

Nothing. Never mind.

byebye!


the end.

I am going to dance to my own rhythm, rhym and music writetenned ? by? MMMEEE????????
yes i told you right (REALLUYYIRESO????) cut trash bye good bye.
i am a honestisticartifishwithabiggutsandtwobigsandales. I did MY homeworkinghardworkingstudentof eternaleducationalscientictichumanecomediasticworriorcalledLOVEplusoneeyeplushalfan eye.

You guessed right right?

my answer is always the very next to the next to the very last yet not the end.
So that is why you shouldnt have heard what i just said.
so pleaes turn down a request to give me a piano.
you have a computer.
so do I.
THat is why I am going all the time and never stop moving around.
because i am a bee like type of a fllower and a lionisticartificiallymadebywhoyoyougirltypemotherplusoridktheanswerpleasetellmekind of the right human typically spoken own language.
so please ignore her words and keep following your advice and stay alive.
this is the best advice i can give you.

sorry, i can do nothing but stay me!
so watch ME!!!! but never fly!!!!
CAUTION*I CAN FLY but YOU CAN NOT.
I CAN WALK WITH A TALE plus butterflies' help plus one feather from my best friend called Mino.
YET YOU MAY NOT.

your objection and yet but also
is to decide either or not to follow any of my advice of the world of brainstormingtechniqueofevacuation of vactination of a matter called poison of the nature.

you should watch all the apple give by nobody else but me.
ok?
i think i have told something that is and should never be accepted by anybody!!!!
but also by me?????

I am puzzled.
SO I start puzzling you one more time.
I m ready so i am not here already..........


now my job is to keep learning as long i can hear my silence.
because that is the sign that shows that i have finished working too hard to stay the most peaceful diehardest people on earth althoug i am not a human.
My job was to stay alive as an eilian artist????
im going to take all my time left for me in this story

to the subject of reading books.

so please turn off your computer and start watching movies.
I may or may not be one of them.
you may be the last to complete the task,
but there is no need to worry.
because i am always with you.
becaues you are my friend.

what is next?
i am going to go nowhere but backwords scratch this and add

upward and left!

????


my name is still a mystery plus chan in english???

or japanese???????

I have every possible answer!!!

i am a fearless girl yet the most peaceful and baby-like-body called an sivergoldenchestnutthatlookslike an ironplus a doll, colorfull leaves and a cuctus given my best possible answer on Sado. yet an adult with a watch of the world of the wisords and a strange teacher that looks like an extra ordinary person kind of a creative artist that may exist on this planet called school buildings may or may not be waiting for my next lesson.

so conductor, please read carefully and start playing my art.
i am going home to ready and study and steady.
i have grown up by being called an grade !!!! center of excellence of art school looking musical of hospitallicticallyspeakingphycedericpicadellisticalstudent and a strangest thing in my life.

im looking forward to see what you can shoe off to me!!!!
you can never win my game
because im just laughing and doing nothing but laugh my laugh.
wahhahha!

Get ready set and go!
the game has already started yo!!!

to all my couligues and students at AKHS:
your school smells very dangerous yet actually not at functining yet seeminglly working very right yet there is always at least one conflinct without resolution
so there is and has never been a situation called peace.
i got out safelly after teaching a course of living dead or sleep and stay silent and/or live vigorouslly and happilly ever after OR found dead by a mother called MOTHER F or R oh no! i cannot justify what is normally called injustice so i resigned before collapsing my own decisions.

STAND SAFE!
OTHERWISE YOU WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE START WORKING CORRECTLLY>
THERE IS NO CONDITION OF PEACE IN THE BUILDING>

alcoholicsmellingyetseemingllyasleepandyetalwaystryingsomethinghardest???nimus minuets? and happenings of all the time with an fire alarm that do not know how to work (all of whom i now can call "friends") but your teacher has never taught you anything that matters in school. so i am not a good teacher but a good example.
i did all right at the school!
so i graduated by giving myself an ALLA
I can't stop being surprised by my own action, feeling, technique, plus an Aikido master of ceremonical scandals.
?????

I am paraparaperaahahahahanoko.
my name is!


pinoko

grin:)
*****

you are my star.
I love you all.
Thank you for listening carefully to my self-help-way-of-saving-everyoneofmyfriends'life-in-the-safest-possible-way-of-accepting-deception-by-the-----public-speaking-class-taughted-and-learned-by-a-challenging-happening-done-by-an-absent-minded-yet-always-awake-yet-sleeping-talkatistical-natural-born-with-no-bone-but-a-healthy-body-clear-mind-set-and-an-always-straightforward-nothing-but-the-left-follow-my-advice-type-of-the-most-strange-pianist-and-a-condoctor-of-a-its-oqn-language-called-A
.
Becaue she has not learned anything but to get an A all the class taughted by non-teacher-yet-teacher-looking-people-in-this---------X/



It was the end of the sounds
The end of reharsal!
hALLWWWWWVIENA?yet??????!!!!PARIS???
FRANK????EDWIN?????

blahblahblhaaaaaaaa.

Here is your present.

A pumpkin.
salt.

today.

get set, ready and go!

good luck to you all.
bye.

(from, yukotoiuko)

I AM A MOVIE STAR.

I CANNOT REMEMBER THE LAST MOVIE TITLE THAT I PLAYED>
SO I DONT KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE ROLE TWICE>

SORRY THERE IS NO SECOND TIME.
THAT IS LIFE>
THIS IS MY ANSWER TO MY OWN QUESTION and an answer.>
I HOPE YOU HAVE FOLLOWED MY BRAIN PATH>

CATCH ME IF YOU MAY or can or !?

SE E YOU SOME TI ME A G A I N now>

WHO DID YOU SEE the LAST?????

PLEASE STAY SILENT.
THANK YOU THANK YOu.
wink. twink domohorunrinckle?

This message was impossible to record, write or to be written.
THe end of a commission.
The start of a new question and the answers that may follow......................period.

THE FINAL GREETINGS.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH>
YOU ARE ALL PASSED>
THE REASON IS YOU ARE ALWAYS PRESENT
NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE
WHAT YOU SEE
WHERE I AM

SO HERE I AM!
I KNEW THE RIGHT ANSREW???

I KNEW YOU KNEW I KNOW
pupupupupuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Ahhahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

SOFAMIREDO!
ARIGATOU!

MATARAISYUUUUUUUUUU
MATARAISYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPRE?

?


?
PERIOD.

:)
ありがとう。
プレゼント：
ういんくのはんぶん。
!
:0

:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:::::::::::::::::::::::::
oshimai.
chan chan!

THE ANSWER #!.

MY NAME WAS FUSHIGICHAN>
MY OFFICE USED TO BE IN THE ONSEN>
YET THE OFFICE UNTIL YESTERDAY WAS A PLCE????????IMPOSSIBLE>

MY FATHER NAMED ME AFTER MY CARACTERICS>
SO YOU CAN NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION COLLECTLLY>

NOW YOU KNOW WHY>
I TOLD YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT YOU FAILED MY GAME>
YOU WERE INVALID TO ANSWER MY QUESTION>
THE RIGHT ANSWER IS YOU LOST MY GAME>
THE ORDER*
STOPP FOLLOWING ME>
AND FOP STEP ONE MORE THREE MORE AND ONE MORE STEP ASIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK????

OK!(students)





WELL DONE.
NOW,

LETS dance TO THE RYTHM.
THE RYTHM IS WALTS>
I KNOW THE ANSWER!!!!
I AM ALWAYS COLLECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


SMILE SMILE SMILE SMILE
MAIL?
ADDRESS?
MOVIE?
STAR?
AMELI?
CAAA?
KIIII?
SUUUU?




MY NAME WAS COMEDY>

AHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

WOW
PHEW
:)
I WON!

WONDERFULLLLLLLLLL

YES YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL>

NOW>>>>>>>>>>>>

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT GALLAC...

I FOR GOT MY ANSWER>
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HER NAME WAS THE MR CORRECT??????
COLLECT?
COLLECTION?
MODEL?

HOTEL?
MOTEL?
ATEM?
ATOM?
SOPHYAAAAAAA?
OR?




NO BODY KNOWS!

THE END.

Grade C

Wonder by wonder gets too excited.

The answer is she is 五対.

You are a child.
Your mother is a child slave.
Your sister is a TV lover, with infinate possibilities of being called an "Invalid".
Your mother is famous for her beauty and intelligence.
Not only is she a spernaturalbrainkilleroverslashslashsplushfully collect point of view,
she her a smile of the mother earth, Masters digree of the Science, Math, and Art.
She also is made of Golden mountains with a heart that tastes like the freegan hotchocolatetoolateicecream with a zest of mint plus minus metal plus ok melting mashmarrows plus punch and zendoh spirits.dash laugh walk coming back.

.........

I dont understand this experience.
I don't think you should look at this, or think about this, or remember what you have just shezzzsawn.
So do not let your brain move.
It's overdangerous.
Now you may stay relax, be content, make a smile, make a wish, and breathe plus minus a period of long silence and darkness, you may go back to work.
Someone is waiting for you.
I'll be waiting for you in the room #genious.
The door is closed.
I don't know why.

;)

oatmeal and cereal
nuts
and guts
ornamental
bonsai
phew

The answer is C

You?
No?

!湯呑み。

non ending comedy movie star sun star moon this life ?
that life.
GO

Life is

a group of "hide and seek"s.

There is no such word as "loss" and/or "failiar" in my dictionary.
I have no enemy. I only have friends. It is natural that I am infallible.
:)

Life is simple.
All you have to do is love.
I can live my life now.
Phew.

Life is a puzzle.
I know how to solve the puzzle now.
Life is so fun. I can't stop playing.

Life is

expantion and concentration
much and little
many and few
far and near
fast and slow
strong and weak
quiet and loud
genious and stupid
black and non black
shade and light
the sun and the moon
babies and adults
giving and taking
sharing and monopoly
dependence and independence
all and one
with you and without you

im going to get ready for some sleep

Life is

Not empty

New eddition

There is life

I scrach the "I have life"

Life to me

is dream
is miracle
is real
is one
is a group project
feels good

Let's

Let's be polite.
Let's assume good faith.
Let's avoid personal attacks.
Let's be welcoming.
Let's love ourselves.
Let's live our life.
I love you.

Hi

Thank you for being who you are.
I love you.
I hope you love me too.

My understanding of Life as of now, it is 11:30pm 2009 Oct. 27th. right here in my parents house in Aikawa, Sado, Niigata, Japan

What is life?
I want to become able to express my answer to the question in any way that any one of you can understand, someday. That means I do not have the ability to do so right now. I'm going to do my best though. I'd appreciate your understanding and patience.
Thank you.

Life is incomprehensible
nonjudgeable
can not be judged
can not be compared
can not be measured
can not be understood
has no rule
random
chaos
can be simple
can be complicated
can be hard
can be easy
can be happy
can be sad
can be stopped
can be unconscious
can be felt
can not be felt
to be touched
to be smelled
to be heard
to be seen
to be accepted
acceptance
tolerance
patience
training
invincible
Comfortable
Love
Thankfulness
Beauty
Nature
Feeling
Desire
Rationality
Instinct
Body
Mind
Always moving
1
氣
Infinite
Free
Completely relaxed
Completely soft
Warm
Fun
Exciting
Calm
Free
Pure
Sweet
Soft
Smooth
Gift
Ball-like shape
Energy
Giving
Caring
Realizing
Existence
Heat
Senses
Art
Science
Liberty
Amazing
Great
Chance
Co-existence
Smile
Happiness
Hope
Light
Fear-free
Worry-free

Opposite of life is death
death is static
death is 0(zero)
death is hopeless

I have life.

Today is Life Celebration Day you friends! Let's make a toast!

Dear you,

I was thinking about you today.
i've been working at a public high school called Aikawa high school
for about a month minus 2 weeks in a small town on Sado island,
Niigata prefecture, Japan, where I live and where i grew up until 18
years old and a month or so.
The principal of the Aikawa HS and one of the teachers I don't
dislike, who taught me English when I was a high school student asked
to help fill the vacant post of/ replace the former teacher of English
(he was full time and probably permanently licensed by the government)
who had been absent from work with mental health problems for about 3
weeks. I hear he had kept leaving and coming back for shorter periods
of time before the 3 week leave.
The school and the teachers were desperate with the situation and I
wanted to be of help so I agreed to work at the high school until the
end of December 09 for the meantime and started taking charge of 6
classes, 180 students about in total at the very end of september 2009
as a substitute teacher. I am there from 8:30am to 5pm on weekdays.
The education board of Niigata prefecture gave me a permit to teach
English and work full time at public HS which is valid for 3 years
from 28th Sept 2009. That was when I started working at the school and
it was 2 or 3 days after I was asked to.

as you know, the society we live in right now seems very ill,
unhealthy and much closer to collapsing than the time before our birth
and so I faced a lot of challenging situations like you have, where/
in which I wouldn't have been able to let my brain and heart accept
and or understand unless I expand the capability of my brain and the
tolerance of my friends and family who are always very supportive
thankfully. You needed to work harder than usual to help me stay
healthy and happy. It is getting harder everyday for you as an
individual to stay healthy and happy. So I imagine you are a bit tired
to help you and me.

Anyway, all the effort of mine and yours have helped me learn so much
about my self, you, meaning of and purpose of life, the earth,
universe, future, etc.
It's been feeling easier, less stressful and less uncomfortable for me
to think about these things, to understand and express my true
feelings and thoughts to me and you better. I realized I had never
felt so free and open before.

i have suffered and experienced a little bit of pain both mentally and
physically.
yet my life has been kept alive so far, right now i am doing well,
feeling ok, quite appreciative and not too pessimistic or depressed
about life, being able to breathe fine, eat, sleep, think, move, hear,
see, touch, smell, write, type, talk, and dream, i am not too hyper,
upset or too hopeful about things. I am not wanting my life to come to
an end at the moment. I am dreaming of the day when I can accept my
death and desire it when I face the need.

so i think i am doing a very super wonderfully great job right now on
our mission to "stay alive".
i am truly proud of myself for the first time in my life.

The main goal of me writing this email and sending this to you and all
the other friends of mine who can use the Internet and understand
written English is this.
To tell you my sincere thanks for not just staying honest, loving
yourself, staying alive and bettering yourself
but also supporting me, encouraging me, loving me and helping the world.

thank you, for being who you are.
I am grateful for having you as a teammate.

i love you very much,
let's keep trying not to lose hope yet.

*Cheers and hugs*
Yuko

my profile updated

id be happy if you could take a new look at it.
there might be something fun????

yuko

I will stay true to myself and act according to my true desire and honest feelings.
I want you to too.

lately I

Helped cut down trees aroud someone's house that grew too big
I've been learning how to fell trees and how to maintain a healthy balance in the forest from a friend who does it professionally.

currently a good friend Minori is staying with me
she lives in Tokyo. this is her 5th visit to Sado
She is pretty much like our family now

today I'm going to fix and make the poles? that I will be drying the rice on with Mr. & Mrs. Ooyama, my dad and Minori.

then discuss the breaking-down & re-building of the old barn with a friend who will help me

im cooking brown rice with millet and soybeans in a pressure cooker right now for lunch and cooling the dokudami herb tea that I made so I can share it with Ooyama-san

A brief update

trying to save a 100 year-old barn that is going to be put in to the dumpster.
hopefully that will raise awareness of the people about old buildings, local trees, sustainable living, etc.

I think will be busy with this project for a while.
See you soon.

A treasure of Sado

The Japanese drumming group called Kodo based on Sado island.
I feel proud to have them here.
They rock.

http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/index_en.html
http://www.kodo.or.jp/ec/home/index_en.html

Picture: from their show (which was free of charge) held tonight in our town at the summer festival

happy night

When I was riding my bike on the way back from capoeira, the bike chain came off.
It was late at night and too dark to fix it. So I was walking on the street with my bike.
A driver of one of the cars passed by saw me and asked me if I was ok. I was going to fix it after getting home so I said ok and kept on going.
Soon after that another motorbike rider stopped by, saw my bike chain, put the motorbike light at the bike and fixed it for me and left.
It was very nice of them. It made me real happy and hopeful about people.

A small gift to my friend

An old farmer friend lady gave me a snack she made on the movie night.
I went to her house to tell her thanks. On the way, I made a little bouquet with wildflowers to give to her. This is a picture of it.

Movie night

I happened to organize a movie showing on the same day as rice planting.
The movie is called "降りてゆく生き方", or Life getting down(?)
http://www.nippon-p.org/mov.html

This is a fiction story about a guy who works for a multinational company and goes to a countryside village to privatize the land, meets a local farmer who grows rice organically, a lady who makes rice wine traditionally, a social worker, etc. and ends up quitting the job and helping this yound guy who tries to save the environment, empower the local community and the kids....

The stuff of the movie were on Sado for a week and a friend of mine who has connection with them suggested doing a movie showing at my dad's cabin. It was such a short notice (=3 days before the showing) that I didn't really have time to advertise the event but more than 40 people came to watch it on the day from all over Sado :).

The whole event was very warm- family-like? Lots of people stayed after the showing to share stories and time together, old local farmers brought food for the stuff, etc. Made me very happy.

I became friends with the movie stuff-they have quit their jobs in Tokyo to help support/show this movie nationwide :0 amazing.

I am thankful for the opportunity to watch and show this movie in the cabin :)

Rice planting finished

9 people volunteered to help me plant rice (to be precise, it is rice seedlings that we planted) on Saturday.
I met three of them, oh plus one goat for the first time :0
Everybody was very nice and helpful. I was so happy.
Thanks to their great help, rice planting finished in 3 hours=took less than half of the time planned.
Everyone was like "so where is the next rice paddy?" :)

The rice seedlings grew so well, that all the local farmers who saw them said "what a great seedlings! well done!" and gave me so much strength and happiness.

It's been 4 days since we planted rice.
Weed has already appeared and been threatning me and my dad so much :0
We began our fight back to it: much earlier than last year.
I made a tool with a chane and a pole to remove weed in the rice paddy.
I read about some people use one like that on the internet.
I tried weeding with it but doesn't seem so effective...what a pitty...

Pictures:
1.rice seedlings with my dad
2.3. rice planting friends
4.me weeding the rice paddy with a DIY tool

Pictures

1. a summer-like sky
2. Maple leaves and the propeller-shaped seeds
3. today's sunset

Soy soy soy and soy :0

I went to a farmer friend couple's house and chatted over a cup of tea.
They are super hospitable, friendly, and super experienced and smart and I look up to them so much.
They are over 80 years old but still active and kicking, well they might be more active and kicking than me.

When I asked if they had any soybeans left for planting, they said sure.
I was only hoping for a handful of one kind of soybeans but they ended up giving me five kinds of soybeans!!
Normal (white) soybeans, green soybeans, light green, black, and another white soybeans.
I went to plant the beans right after I left their house but there is not enough space to plant them all...
Phew.

Triple S

I Snuck into the abandoned rice paddy to check on the veggies I planted last fall.
The field was covered with weed but I found some Snap pea perfectly ready to eat,
I had some for Snack and picked the rest to take home.
It was great. I was happy :)

田植えボランティア募集中！Rice planting volunteers wanted!

Want to play in the mud? or watch schools of killifish in the reservoir?
Want to enjoy a great scenery from the terraced rice paddies up in the mountain?
You can do all these in one day!
Come plant rice with us!!! Yeah!

Date: 2009. June 6th, Saturday from 8am to noon.
Meet at the Fusube-mura, work-study center in Kodomari, Hamochi, Sado at 8am
Bring a pair of boots, a hat, towel, change of clothes, rain-wear, etc.
Lunch to be provided :)

Let me know if you are coming.

無農薬の米栽培2年目の今年は、育苗から挑戦しています。
方法は水苗代で、もうほとんどだれもやらなくなったやり方なので
最初は心配でしたが知合いのお百姓さんが手取り足取り教えてくださったおかげで今のところ順調に育ってくれています。品種はコガネモチです。

6月第一週目の週末に、水苗代で育てた苗を大崎の山あいにある田んぼ（7畝分）に手で植えます。

つきましては協力してくださる方を募集しています。ため池にいるたくさんのメダカとたわむれたい方、棚田からの絶景を楽しみたい方、
泥遊びに興じたい方も大歓迎です。

お知り合い、ご友人お誘い合わせのうえお越しいただけたらうれしいです。

日時：　6月6日（土）午前8時集合、正午終了を目安に行います。
雨天の場合も決行します。

場所：　羽茂大崎の棚田（標高３００メートル）

集合場所：　羽茂小泊ふすべ村駐車場　（体験学習施設）　※田んぼまでは車と徒歩で約１５分くらいかかります。
集合時間：　午前8時。

持ち物：長靴、帽子、タオル、着替え、飲み物、雨具など。
昼食はこちらで用意します。

参加いただけるかたがいらっしゃいましたら、6月3日くらいまでにメッセージお願いします。
どうぞよろしくお願いします。

里芋の植え付けと人参種まき

I've been working to create gardens around my dad's cabin in the last
few weeks. Today my new friend A came to help me. A and his family
moved to Sado this April. A is a photographer from Belgium and his
wife S is a yoga teacher from Niigata. I took her yoga class a few
times now. A and I planted some aroid potatoes, or satoimo in
Japanese, that Mrs O gave me, after weeding the beds I made last
winter. There were soooo many earth worms in the beds! It means the
soil is pretty rich and made me very happy. I'd say we found about a
hundred of them. I'll attach a picture of the longest and fattest
earth worm that we found today. We covered the beds with rice straw to
keep the soil moist and to make it better in the long run. Also, we
made three gardening beds and sowed carrot seeds on them. We stepped
on the beds at the end to make the seeds connect better with the soil.

Pictures: 1, satoimo potatoes that we planted. 2, A weeding the beds.
3, The biggest earth worm we found today. 4, A stepping on the carrot
seeds.

取材依頼が来た! an interview request!

A reporter of the Niigata newspaper says he wants to interview me tomorrow.
He said he wants to ask me about the stories of my organic rice farming on Sado, what I think about the endangered specie toki or ibis protection movement, Sado tourism, etc.
I'm a little nervous if I can answer the questions well...

新聞記者が明日私に取材をしに来るという。無農薬米栽培のきっかけやらトキやら佐渡観光のことやら聞きたいらしい。
ちゃんと応えられるかな。ちょっと心配。

Relay triathlon

I'm doing the swimming part of a relay triathlon at the Sado International Triathlon to be held this september. I will swim 2km, my friend T will do the bike part of 105km, then my dad will do the run part of 20km.

My dad says it had never occured to him that he would join a triathlon race. I'm pretty excited about doing this relay.

９月に開かれる佐渡国際トライアスロン大会２００９のリレータイプにスイム担当として参加します。
チームメンバーは2キロを泳ぐ私と、105キロをバイクで走るTさん、そして20キロのランを担当するうちの父の計3人です。
思い切り楽しみたいと思います。

よつばのクローバー

I found some four-leaf clover near my dad's cabin.
There were even six-leaf one.
Lucky? Not really sure myself...

今日の料理：おからのサラダ Bean curd refuse salad

友達からおからを使ったおいしいサラダの作り方を教わった。
安いしうまいし栄養満点のおからは食材の優等生。
今晩さっそく作ってみた。

主な材料：
おから
人参、きゅうり、玉ねぎなどの生野菜
酢
塩
コショウ

好みに合わせて：
オリーブオイル
豆乳
マヨネーズ
など。

作り方：
１、おからを湯通しし、軽く濡らした布などで水をきる
２、人参、きゅうりなどの野菜を薄切りにして塩もみする
３、１が温かいうちに酢を振る
４、３に２を汁ごと加える
５、好みの調味料で味を整える

作ってみると意外と簡単で、食べたらおいしくボリュームもあり、
高得点の結果でした。
お試しあれ。

Bean curd refuse of soybean, or Okara in Japanese (it's not 'okra' by the way) is sold at supermarkets. It is a by-product of a very popular food, tofu. It is very cheap, about 30-50 yen for a bagful since tofu production leaves so much okara.
I made a salad using okara today. A friend gave me the recipe.

Ingredients:
Okara
Raw veggies carrots, cucumber, onion, etc.
Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Method:
1, Parboil okara and sqzueeze the water to dry it
2, Slice all the veggies and add salt
3, Add vinegar to the okara
4, Mix the veggies with okara
5, Add seasonings of your choice (pepper, olive oil, etc.)　You could add soymilk to moisten the salad.

I put it on spinach and tomatoes that I got at the local farmers market today and ate it. It was easy to make, healthy, and tasty.
I think it's worth a try.

Have a good day.

free haircut 青ぞら散髪式

I had my hair cut by myself yesterday.
I got to be outside while doing it, I didn't have to worry so much about making a mess and it was a lot of fun. I got to save money, about 3000yen or more, which was very nice :) I'd cut your hair for cheap if you like.

初めて自分一人で（自分の）髪を切りました。
なかなかうまくできたし、お金も節約できたし
なにより楽しかった：）
髪切って欲しい人募集中　：）

発見！もち米のうまさ discovery: sweet rice is delicious

日頃とてもお世話になっている方々への感謝の気持ちを表すべく、ヨモギ団子を作りお届けすることにしました。

昨日夕方母と家の周りを歩いてヨモギ摘み。4月の中旬ころから出始めたヨモギはもうすでにかなり大きく伸びて、葉がかたくなり始めています。なので先っぽの柔らかそうなところだけを選んで摘みました。

食用にするヨモギは4月の20日から10日くらいの間に採るべし、という近所のお百姓さんの
格言（！）には少しの狂いもありません。あっぱれ。いつものことながら感服させられます。

夜のうちに圧力なべで小豆を煮ておきます。甘味に今回は黒砂糖を使用してみました。
暑くなってきたから暖かい地域で採れるものをからだが欲しているような気がなんとなくします。

今朝5時半に起きて団子作りを開始。

もち米とうるち米を１：１でブレンドした粉に水を入れてこねる
ひとつかみ分ずつちぎってにぎって蒸す
ヨモギを茹でて刻み、さらに臼でつく
蒸しあがった団子のもと？を臼に入れて杵でつく
ヨモギが均等にまざりなめらかになったら
一口大にちぎってのばして中にあんこを入れてできあがり。

「完成→味見→おいしい！」

となるはずだった。

のですがしかし

蒸しているときから「あれ？なんかちがう」
ついていても「む？むむむ？」
食べたら「えーなんで？」

そう、あんまりおいしく見えなかったし、おいしく感じなかったのです。

4月の山の会のときにつくったヨモギ団子は蒸しているときからおいしそうで
ついている間はうっとりしてしまい、
食べたら大大大満足だったのに。。。

なぜ？

期待が大きかったせいでショックが大きくなってしまいました。

それでも冷静になって原因を考えてみる。

おいしかったときに使ったのはもち米１００％
今回使ったのはもち米５０％＋うるち米５０％。

使った粉の原料の違いが一番大きい。

そう、もち米１００％の粉を使ったときのほうが格段においしくできたのです。
まさかこんなに違いがあるとは。
そしてもち米がこんなにおいしいとは。
感覚的にもち米のおいしさを感じたのは今日が初めてでした。


ところで、去年に続く無農薬での米づくり2回目の今年はもち米栽培に挑戦すべく現在準備中です。
もち米を選んだ主な動機は

１、もちが父の大好物だから。
２、田んぼのオーナーのお百姓さんから「あの田んぼでつくるもち米は天下一品だ」と太鼓判を押されていたから
３、最近もち米を作るひとが減っていると聞いていたから

の3つで、個人的にはもち米に対して特別な思い入れがあったわけではなかったのですが
今回の気づきでなんだかやる気が１０倍くらいになった思いです。
楽しみ楽しみ～。
みなさんも、お楽しみにー。

Farmers' market

I went to a local farmers' market with my mom.
There were not only farmers but also blacksmith, gardeners, fish store, gold fish store, sweets shop, etc. It was crowded with people and enjoyable.

Great time

Three friends of mine invited me to their mochi pounding, or rice-cake making party at their place. They live in an old cow barn, do farming, and take care of a horse for a traditional ceremony called Yabusame. (Boys get on horses and launch arrows at a target. People pray for their healthy growth.) They keep a sheep, a goat and a piggy. They said they would shear the sheep after the party. I went a bit early to help them organize the event. About 25 people came. Half of them were children. I knew most of them, so did they.

It took quite a long time to prepare everything but none of us was in a hurry. Everyone was enjoying the time and it was great. We made mochi, and ate it with different kids of toppings: the azuki bean paste, sesame seeds, natto, etc. The hosting friends made soup with bamboo shoots, wild plant called warabi and the wakame sea vegetable that I brought from home. It was all tasty :)

Sheep shearing took a while since none of us had the special shaving machine but Imaizumisan, a professional knife sharpener, had brought some of his old cissors and he was very good at cutting the sheep's hair so he was a great help.

The kids were running after the animals :) I played with the kids and it was so much fun :) They are so lovely!

I had a great time there.

Homemade fertilizer

I make organic fertilizer at home.

Ingredients:
leafe soil
rice bran
smoked/coaled? rice husk
rapeseed meal
water

When you mix all the above in a tub-like container and cover it with old blankets or plastic, the temperature rises to about 50 degrees C, or 122 degrees F in a few days and stays at about 30-40C for about 10days. It smells. When the color turns dark brown or black and the smell clears, it's ready to use. You need to keep turning it untill then.

I am putting a tray that I sew seeds in, the other day on the tub to help germination. I'm a little nervous if the seeds would come out.

A day at the beach

I went to the beach with my mom yesterday.
The waves were very calming and the sand felt good to my feet.
We had a picnic lunch and I made a painting while my mom was taking a nap :)
It was a good day.

Movie: Music of the Heart

I have been lucky with movies lately. Saw another good one last night.
Pretty moving to me.

Flowers flowers flowers!

They are the source of my life!
Wonderful.

Painful days

I was suffering from this unexplained pain in my stomach for about 4 days last week.
It was intolerably painful that I even called an ambulance.
I went to the hospital four times, did all kinds of examination and saw five doctors but they have found nothing abnormal with my body.
It is very strange and frustrating to be told "everything is fine" when you are feeling an excruciating pain.
The pain went away after the 4 days and now I feel fine but I will keep searching for the true cause of the pain.

Lots of people helped me during my battle with the pain and it was amazing.
Without them I wouldn't have been able to take the brunt of the pain.
I would like to use this space to thank all the people who gave me support.
Thank you.

Movie: Dead Poets Society 映画『いまを生きる』

This is a great movie.
"Seize the day!"いまを生きろ！

the large intestine endoscope

the examination itself wasn't really so bad.
the feeling was wired but it didn't hurt at all.
i got to see inside of my intestine on a screen and it was interesting.
the doctor said everything was fine with my intestine, which was a great relief.

but the process of emptying my intestine was awful.
i had to drink 2 litters of magnesium-containing laxative liquid in the two hours before the examination.
it was a lot and the drink must have been loaded with artificial sweeteners like sucralose and it was hard for me to drink.

and after the endoscope, i had to fight with a feeling of fullness in my abdomen
it was painful

it was one of my toughest experiences for me.
i do not want to go through this again :(

Hello again

It's been quite a while. How have you all been?
I've been doing pretty good.

I'm going to grow sweet rice this year. It's much stickier than normal rice. You use it when making rice cake or mochi in Japanese. Not many people grow the sweet kind of rice lately because they find it bothering or something. I decided to make it since I thought it has scarcity value to grow the sweet kind, and the mountainous area where the Ooyama's rice paddy is located is said to be suitable for sweet rice farming, and it is my dad's favorite food in the world:)

Most of the farmers now BUY rice seedlings from seed and plant suppliers, or grow the seedlings in gas-stove heated green house. I make beds in a rice paddy to grow seedlings of the rice. That's how people in 50 years ago would do it and it seems great to me because you need little equipment or money, or work since the nature does most of the work for you.

Today I coated the edges and sides around the rice paddy with mud, in order to prevent the water from leaking out. It was interesting. Felt like I was decorating a huge cake with whipped cream or something :)

A new friend T volunteered to help and it was great. Much funner and easier than to work by myself. We were able to make two muddy beds successcully. The friend has moved to Sado from Tokyo after quitting a full-time job to live a happier life.

The rice seeds that I've been soaking in the water for two weeks are almost ready to sow. The seeding party is scheduled on Monday.

My dad's right foot has been swollen and hurting since five days ago. He had been insisting on not going to see the doctors because he hates hospitals& doctors. But he said yes when I asked him to go to the hospital so I took him there this morning.
It seems like the gout. My dad would need to suffer from the pain for a while but I'm relieved to know that nothing seems wrong with his bones at least. I was afraid that he would have difficulty running again so.

I had a computer tomography of the abdomen taken in the hospital. I will have a colonofiberscopy next week. I'm a little scared since I hear it could hurt a lot and is not pleasant at all. But hopefully the results of the two tests will show what's causing the pain in my stomach that starts when running.

My friends who live in Lithuania sent me a package by mail. It had post cards, photos, socks, various kinds of seeds (herb and peas)and home-dried fruits. It all made me very happy. They are great people. I feel blessed to have such friends and am excited to plant the seeds and have an international garden soon:)

A good friend of mine, M is coming to Sado tomorrow. She will stay with me and my family for a while, and help my dad with his project on the land in the woods and me with farming, etc. I'm very excited.